Good news... dreaming of BEV Class A

JRscooby wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
""

For local light duty delivery trucks running fixed short routes...electric is viable.

That's not what is being promoted.

For local delivery, I can't see how the routes could not be "fixed" same as ICE. For instance, package delivery. Of old as the package is read, somebody decide which truck it should go on. Then the driver decide where in the truck, and what order of stops, so he can get to the package when he gets to that stop. Now, the package is scanned, the computer decides which truck, and likely where in truck, and programs the route. Would it be that hard to make the computer limit the maximum travel distance?
Terminal to terminal? In the past, the terminals where spaced based on the distance a driver could travel in the hours he could legally drive. Would it be so hard to space them by the limit of battery charge life? In the past, (and probably still) slip seat operation, a driver would get to a motel at the end of shift, get out, another driver get in, move the load toward destination. Replace the motel with a charge station, swap tractors instead of drivers.

I think for the freight and manufacturing, that's how it will evolve for the total autonomous hauls.

First, the controlled environment like the factory campus.

Then point-to-point in say, entry and exit to a major freeway.

However, I doubt if a total unmanned or "unsupervised (eg, remote piloted)' will be allowed in routes where it will traverse busy streets.

I don't know, I'm speculating based on the news and readings about the subjectt

valhalla360 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
""

For local light duty delivery trucks running fixed short routes...electric is viable.

That's not what is being promoted.

For local delivery, I can't see how the routes could not be "fixed" same as ICE. For instance, package delivery. Of old as the package is read, somebody decide which truck it should go on. Then the driver decide where in the truck, and what order of stops, so he can get to the package when he gets to that stop. Now, the package is scanned, the computer decides which truck, and likely where in truck, and programs the route. Would it be that hard to make the computer limit the maximum travel distance?
Terminal to terminal? In the past, the terminals where spaced based on the distance a driver could travel in the hours he could legally drive. Would it be so hard to space them by the limit of battery charge life? In the past, (and probably still) slip seat operation, a driver would get to a motel at the end of shift, get out, another driver get in, move the load toward destination. Replace the motel with a charge station, swap tractors instead of drivers.

Train and Plane staffing are more a function of conservative management and potential PR issues as opposed to actual need for so many staff. Technology is there to make both almost completely free of human control right now...with better safety as human mistakes outnumber computer glitches by a wide margin.

Also, EV and self driving are two completely different subjects. I got a ride in a self driving diesel truck on real roads almost a decade ago. They had a driver in place (who didn't do anything) to meet rules more than out of any real need.

JRscooby wrote:
Some loads max out on gross, but many, maybe most, cube out first. And a whole lot of loads are less than full trailer, and under weight. Think of all the UPS package trucks. Called in to move them when weather would put them behind, never had over 32,000 on drives (5th wheel set for 12/34 split). I never knew what trailer tandem weighed.
I can see where electric would leave much to be desired for the "Any load, any road" or irregular hauler, (Or RVer) but for a terminal to terminal operation? Example, my truck did not do slip seat. I would pull into UPS, drop their wagon. 10 hrs later, they would have a load. (Go out, pay cash for fuel, so log book could show 10 hrs sleeping) If that was the only kind of work I did, and could plug in while sleeping? Of course, will the E trucks need drivers?

For local light duty delivery trucks running fixed short routes...electric is viable.

That's not what is being promoted.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

For an RV cruising at 70mph, it may have drastically less range.

You'll get a ton of traffic tickets in the West Coast for this where speed limit is 55 mph. And high fees for these violations.

Some of us are smart enough not to live in Calicrazy.

time2roll wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
I won't hazard a guess of the final complexion of the EV and freight industry would look like.

I just can see the push and pull on one hand the industry would want a totally autonomous operations and the regulations wanting the vehicles to be manned, on site or remote.

I keep thinking a lead truck would have a driver and one to five trucks could follow automatic almost like a train. The trucks would directly communicate to help control speed and direction. Just for long distance interstate travel with approved route and destinations between major depots.

I heard about it and how much energy it would save just as migrating swans go on V formation to break the air stream.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
I won't hazard a guess of the final complexion of the EV and freight industry would look like.

I just can see the push and pull on one hand the industry would want a totally autonomous operations and the regulations wanting the vehicles to be manned, on site or remote.

I keep thinking a lead truck would have a driver and one to five trucks could follow automatic almost like a train. The trucks would directly communicate to help control speed and direction. Just for long distance interstate travel with approved route and destinations between major depots.

I won't hazard a guess of the final complexion of the EV and freight industry would look like.

I just can see the push and pull on one hand the industry would want a totally autonomous operations and the regulations wanting the vehicles to be manned, on site or remote.

DrewE wrote:

Of the major transportation systems to be fully automated, trains would seem to me to be the most straightforward. The steering is already automated, so it's only speed control--and, with that, collision avoidance--that is required of the crew; and the speed cannot be changed any too quickly due to physics. There are plenty of fully automated small-scale and medium-scale train systems in operation carrying passengers already, such as for instance the Dubai metro.

Yes, the train would be most simple. And in switch yards and such instead of one driving train in response to signals from the man doing the unhooking, the ground man works the drone controls. But when a train with one man crew parks, the man goes to eat and the train looses air and rolls away. Of course, it is the crew's fault.

At any rate, there's no real requirement for a driverless truck to be an electric truck; it's not really a more complicated problem for a computer to control an engine and transmission and braking system with a gas or diesel engine than it is for an electric motor. Indeed current engines are almost universally computer controlled already, as are modern automatic transmissions, and braking systems partly computer controlled with ABS and stability control systems. The much trickier problem to sort out is how to reliably navigate and interact with other vehicles and drivers on the road system, which is not really designed for automated/driverless vehicles.

True dat. But, terminal to terminal operation would be best use of E power, and also for letting the robot drive. Back in the late '70s often the freight haulers could tell time by the mile marker. That kind of "know the road" would be faster for the computer to learn.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

Agree, seems logical and for safety reasons, to have someone immediately available to intervene should an emergency situation occurs.

In fact, recent accidents on auto-pilot happened when the computer signals conflicting reading alerting driver to take control and did not.

Drriver can be napping or doing posting on forum on the wheel but should take the wheels when computer is seeing a mis-reading of road conditions.

I actually do not really agree with that. Relying on a driver who is otherwise disengaged from the process to take over quickly in an emergency situation is a recipe for disaster. It's virtually impossible to make a proper split-second decision under such conditions; to suddenly have a klaxon go off while one's doing the crossword and have to take over for the computer when one hits black ice (or whatever) is a very tall order indeed. It's even harder if one is awoken from sleep.